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A person in your situation shouldn't. Bay is way closer and even if the Oaks were better, it'd be more worth it to play longer at Bay rather driving the extra 20-30 miles.

The whole rape thing is an inside joke. The Oaks isn't in a very nice neighborhood, but people - particularly ones who have never been there - are constantly exaggerating the dangers.

ya i was joking

but the bay does sound better i'm definitely prone to playing crazy long sessions usually i just can't help myself.

sounds like the best reason for me to go to oaks would be if i met up with someone in SF in the morning and had some time to kill before going out at night again in sf or something

There is no good reason to go to The Oaks. You are better off at Lucky Chances if you want to kill time during the day.

lucky chances only has up to 6/12 though right or is that not true anymore?

i'd still want to play at stakes that i enjoy

LC has pretty good NL games from what I hear, but yeah, LHE kind of sucks.

Getting across the bridge is difficult during rush hour, which starts at like 3-4 from the financial people who get in before NYSE opens and ends at 7-8 from the techies who roll into work for lunch.

I used to work in South San Francisco and worked until 7:30-8 just to avoid the bridge traffic (45-75 min at peak).

Artichoke Joe's has 15/30 and is worth considering.

If that is you are comfortable there despite the rumors of a collusion ring acting there unchecked.

1. I believe at least Jesse and maybe one other person I trust saying that the "collusion ring" was not a huge negative. Either it wasn't very active any more or they never really existed to the degree claimed. Jesse blogged several times about playing there so I figure it can't be that bad.

2. Even if true, I don't know if it would be worth driving across the bridge to play at the Oaks for 1-2 sessions. Whenever one is in a new casino one is at a substantial information disadvantage anyway. I could see, for instance, a new player worried about 2p2ers at the Oaks being a collusion ring.

Cheaters at Lucky chances! Played their $200 buy in 6k guarantee for 1st. Big overlay today. Played at table 1 with 2 other regs, and less than an hour into play this hand came up: blinds 100 200 player 1(regular) raises to 600 player 2(reg #2) directly on his left re pops to 2 k. Folds around to player 1 who calls. Pot 4 k both players started hand with 8k starting stack. Flop Q 5 2 rainbow. Player one leads out for 4k player 2 calls leaving 2 k behind. Turn 6. Player 1 shoves, player 2 flashes his hand to player 1 then folds. Another player asks to see the hand, (show one show all). Dealer apparently has never heard of this rule and calls the TD over who tells her to show the hand, 5 6 off suit for a turned 2 pair and obviously the best hand. So after investing 75% of his stack on the flop, then improving his hand he decides to fold on the turn. Can it be any more obvious? I look around at a bunch of others who don't appear to understand what just happened. As if this isn't bad enough, very next hand player one open shoves and is called by player 2. Player 1 has AK, player 2 has 8 3 off. Ak holds and player 2 is out. A couple other players catch on and start to make a little noise now and I alert the TD who agrees that it looks shady. He talks to both players and assures me he will watch them in the future but can't kick player one out of tourny cuz can't prove anything. TD didn't see the whole hand or the subsequent 8 3 call off. So I understand he's in a difficult spot, plus I really like him as a TD and think he usually does a great job. But stuff like this makes me want to avoid LC now. So if u play there, watch out.

If you play anywhere , you have to watch out. Most teams are a bit more intelligent (ie, they do not open themselves up to "show one show all" or IWTSTH). And if they play in the LC tournaments, they will play in all the other casinos in the area.

I don't play tourneys but you're required to present ID, right? So LC should have an exact record of their names?

This is what intercasino blacklists should be used for.

Decided against outing him on thread

gotta protect dem cheats!

Does the 2/4 stud game still go daily at Oaks?

Friday's starting at 4:30pm at the 101 in Petaluma there is a lively 5/10 half NL half PLO

Yes it does.

Thanks. Do you have any knowledge of what should I expect at that game?

Old guys, and too much rake.

Too much rake to beat the game? I'm looking for beatable non-HE games in the Bay Area. What might be some better options?

Oaks spreads 2-4 and (occasionally) 4-8 stud. Both are rake traps.

I think Lucky Chances might still spread a 3-6 stud game. It, too, is a rake trap.

There is a belief among cardroom managers that has persisted for decades that "Bay Area players don't like red-chip stud games." ("Red chip" meaning played with $5 chips.) The Outpost, in San Ramon, used to spread a $10-$20 eight-or-better high-low split stud game with a half-kill to $15-$30, but that game burned out its player base; not long after that, the Outpost lost its gaming license.

The Oaks spreads, I think on some Thursday and most Saturday afternoons, single-draw limit lowball games; the betting limit can be $60, $80, or $120 depending on the whim of the players that day.

There are Omaha/8 games spread in various cardrooms, typically 4-8 with a half-kill to 6-12.

Those are your choices for non-hold'em games in the Bay Area.

Thanks. So the O8 games aren't rake traps?

At the Oaks at least the drop for 4/8 LO8 is $5, vs. $4 for almost anything else. But that's just to make up for the low hands/hr.

The game is probably good enough to overcome that.

The 4/8 L08 game at the Oaks is actually pretty terrible. The 6/12 with a third kill (8/16) is much better and has the same $5 drop. It runs Wed, Thur, and frequently Fri or Sat. The player pool and the action are significantly better IMO.

Anyone have an update on the smaller (100-500 buy in) PLO game at Lucky Chances? Heard it was going a few weeks ago. Is it running tonight?

Not when I'm playing!

I guess it depends on what we mean by terrible. The players are certainly terrible, and anyone who plays correctly preflop and is reasonably competent post flop should be able to easily beat the game for say 1.5 bb p/hr in either game. also my impression is the 4/8 doesn't run all that much anymore. All the regs just come for the 6/12 days.